1. Lever Press: From start to present it began with imagining… Terri Fishel, Library Director Member of Lever Press Oversight Committee Oberlin Digital Scholarship Conference June 10, 2016 Macalester College, St. Paul, MN

2. Not-So-Modest Proposal – Imagine… “that the Oberlin Group decided to become a leader in the open access movement. that we shifted our energy from complaining about that state of academic publishing, and banded together to transform it. that we conceived of academic libraries as institutions that no longer limit themselves to collecting and distributing knowledge, but…produce knowledge…” (Excerpts from Oberlin Director’s list email - Bryn Geffert, July 28, 2010)

3. Libraries as publishers “no longer limit… to collecting and distributing knowledge, but…produce knowledge” (2010) “[t]here is an emerging consensus that some sort of basic publishing services will become a core service for research libraries.” (2015) [Issac Gilman. “Adjunct No More: Promoting Scholarly Publishing as a Core Service of Academic Libraries” 2015]

4. What exactly are the problems we are trying to address?

5. Crisis or Pressure Points Academic Library Budgets – shrinking, flat, or very limited growth Increasing journal costs at the expense of book budgets, but all formats have increased in costs Fewer monographs purchased annually University Presses – shrinking number while there has been a consolidation of major commercial publishers Decreasing outlets for humanities and social science publications Declining numbers for print publications

6. Trend in Copies Per Title – 1970- 2010

7. Call to Action and Action Taken - Condensed Timeline October 2010 – Oberlin Director’s Meeting – task force formed May 3, 2011 - Survey of Directors regarding a Mellon Planning Grant June 2012 – “A Future for Publishing” presentation to Annapolis Groups 2012 October 2012 – Second task force formed, consultant hired August - December 2013 – Phase 1 Faculty survey March 17, 2014- Phase 1 Report – Seeking feedback from Oberlin DirectorsPhase 1 Report December 2014 – RFP responses from three publishers June 2, 2015 – Announcement of partnership

8. June 2015 Partnership with Amherst College Press and Michigan Publishing. Collaborating on a proposal. The proposal will include: editorial plan: …will provide an opportunity for faculty on our campuses to participate in the creation of monograph series… governance plans: …an opportunity for interested librarians and faculty to play a role in shaping the direction of the press going forward. business plan: a five year financial plan that will allow the press to establish and sustain itself. Lever Initiative Update, June 2, 2015 https://leverinitiative.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/update-june-2015/ https://leverinitiative.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/update-june-2015/

9. “Disruption through example” “The Lever Press will not all by itself change the face of scholarly communication, but we are increasingly convinced that it represents an excellent opportunity for us to collectively intervene to help transform this system, and to provide a platform for innovation in the liberal arts.” Lever Initiative Update, June 2, 2015 https://leverinitiative.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/update-june- 2015/https://leverinitiative.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/update-june- 2015/

10. Other Initiatives, just a few Luminos – shared cost model Luminos Knowledge Unlatched – libraries share costs Knowledge Unlatched Open Monograph Press – Public Knowledge Project, open source platform Open Monograph Press Open Humanities Press – cooperative of scholars Open Humanities Press Open Book Publishers – libraries support through membership Open Book Publishers Open Library of Humanities – library partnership subsidies Open Library of Humanities OpenEdition – French, supporting membership OpenEdition Unglue.it - pledges Unglue.it Ubiquity Press – British, author pays BPC (book publishing charge) Ubiquity Press

11. How is our effort different? No charge for authors Authors receive a small payment Born digital, all works are openly accessible and free Cooperative by academic liberal arts colleges – more than 40 institutions - funded by library budgetmore than 40 institutions Collaborative partnership —the Oberlin Group, the Amherst College Press, and Michigan Publishing Our focus will be on ‘books that are useful’ and innovation in process and format that helps link faculty with students – reflecting our liberal arts tradition.” [Lever Press Business Plan]

12. AND “Librarians and faculty at the participating institutions will be involved in setting the agenda and defining the identity and the future of the press.” “Reflections on Lever Press,” Barbara Fister, Library Babelfish, Jan. 14, 2016

13. Emphasis on quality Oversight committee – librarians and faculty Editorial board – faculty scholars Peer Review Editorial support – content and copy editing This is a particular area of concern for faculty and a measure of quality often lacking in publications from commercial publishers Prestige and name-branding essential for purposes of tenure and promotion

14. Next five years Oversight Committee met Jan. 25 & 26, 2016 in Amherst for the Kickoff Oversight Committee Editorial Board – 12 faculty members Editorial Board Summit of Stakeholders Meeting June 22 at Annapolis Summit of Stakeholders Meeting Goal: 10 publications in Year 2 15 publications in Year 3 25 publications in Year 4 40 publications in Year 5

15. “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. “ Archimedes

16. Changing the world “We should make the fruits of scholarship available to everybody. Everywhere. Without charge. And to inspire others to do the same.” Bryn Geffert, “A Future for Publishing and Scholarly Communication?” Presentation to Annapolis Group, June 2012.

17. Thank you More resources follow this page if you are interested in reading more about the development and progress of the Lever Press.

18. Additional resources Lever Initiative – background - https://leverinitiative.wordpress.com/https://leverinitiative.wordpress.com/ Lever Press – http://www.leverpress.org/http://www.leverpress.org/ Geffert, Bryn. “A Future for Publishing and Scholarly Communication?” Presentation to Annapolis Group, June 2012. (PDF shared with Oberlin Directors, June 2012) (https://www.amherst.edu/library/about/news/annapolis2012)https://www.amherst.edu/library/about/news/annapolis2012 Geffert, Bryn. “Lever Initiative,” Annapolis Group Presentation, June 19, 2015 - https://youtu.be/0Im2zMU1MJIhttps://youtu.be/0Im2zMU1MJI “An Interview with Lever Press,” Scholarly Kitchen, Jan. 26, 2016 - https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2016/01/25/an- interview-with-lever-press/https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2016/01/25/an- interview-with-lever-press/ “Oberlin Group Launches Platinum Open Access Publisher”, Inside Higher Ed - https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/08/oberlin-group-launches-platinum-open-access-publisher-lever-press https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/08/oberlin-group-launches-platinum-open-access-publisher-lever-press Eddington, Mark. The Commons of Scholarly Communication: Beyond the Firm http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/1/the-commons-of-scholarly-communication-beyond-the-firm http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/1/the-commons-of-scholarly-communication-beyond-the-firm Geffert, Bryn. “A Future for Publishing and Scholarly Communication?” Presentation to Annapolis Group, June 2012. (PDF shared with Oberlin Directors, June 2012) Gilman, Isaac. “Adjunct No More: Promoting Scholarly Publishing as a Core Service of Academic Libraries.” Against the Grain, Dec. 2014-Jan.2015, Fister, Barbara. “Reflections on Lever Press” Library Babelfish, Jan. 14, 2016. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/reflections-lever-press https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/reflections-lever-press